Sixers take offense to Goran Dragic’s layup in final seconds of Game 2. Dragic: ‘I don’t care’

Miami Heat’s Goran Dragic, center right, of Slovenia, shoots with Philadelphia 76ers’ Robert Covington, left, defending during the second half in Game 1 of a first-round NBA basketball playoff series, Saturday, April 14, 2018, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola)

MIAMI — If losing home-court advantage isn’t enough motivation for the Sixers entering Thursday’s Game 3, it seems like they’ve created some more.

With the Heat leading by eight points in the final seconds of their Game 2 win in Philadelphia, point guard Goran Dragic dribbled all the way down the court for an uncontested layup with 1.2 seconds remaining instead of dribbling the clock out. Sixers players on the bench immediately had words for Dragic after the play, but he never looked back to acknowledge them.

And after Wednesday’s practice, Dragic didn’t really acknowledge them either.

“I don’t care,” Dragic said when asked about the Sixers’ reaction to the play. “The first game we were down 30 and they were still running [inbounds plays after timeouts] with seven seconds left in the game. It’s the playoffs. I’m doing everything it takes.”

But at least one Sixers player still seemed upset about it after their practice Wednesday in Miami.

“It definitely matters because you can just dribble it out, everything,” Philadelphia forward Robert Covington said. “But you know, we don’t understand why he did it. But overall, we just said, OK, that gives us anticipation because obviously he didn’t care about the simple fact of the score of the game. They were already winning.”

Covington said he will remember Dragic’s layup entering Game 3. But Sixers point guard Ben Simmons didn’t seem too bothered by it.

“The game’s not over,” Simmons said. “I would have dunked it.”

What has already been a physical first-round series will likely get even more physical as it goes on. But Covington stressed the importance of playing within the rules despite the chippiness.

“You don’t want to do nothing to put yourself in a predicament or allow somebody to get hurt,” he said. “Nobody wants to get fined. Nobody wants to be on the back end of something like that. It can’t be retaliation. You have to play smarter and do it different ways. You can’t get caught up in the moment and do something crazy.”